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Tuesday, 3 July 2018

The Finish-A-Long Project List - keeping track of your FAL projects

- This post is part of the Quarter 2 Finish-A-Long tutorial week, find the full list for this quarter at the Tutorial Week post -

* this post includes a FREE DOWNLOAD - keep reading *

Finish-A-Long lists

If you ever had a look at the Finish-A-Long link-up, you know there are lots of Finishalong lists participating. Long lists, short lists, purely quilty lists, and mixed quilt/knit/dress-making lists. There are even lists that are ridiculously long - they have their own hashtag: #ridiculouslylongFALlist - of course!

With 200 to 250 (and more) lists linked up with the Finish-A-Long recent quarters, and list lengths from a couple of projects to 40 or more, there are an enormous number of projects to keep track of between all of us! High time then to give you a way to keep track of your projects, and keep those all-important link-up dates to hand, too...

The Finish-A-Long Project List

So I have sat down and created the Finish-A-Long Project List. A 2018 Finish-A-Long logo is displayed at the top:

Which looks nice, but it is the practical features that are most important, don't you think?! Basically this is a fill-in page to keep all your projects and their progress (hopefully) written down in one place. But it is a good one (if I may say so myself) and allows you to tick all the right boxes! This is my list:

As you can see, this page allows me to list up to 12 projects. I can number my projects, and I can indicate progress for each one. I like it that even when I don't finish a project I can see that I am making progress! I placed a cross for each quarter the project is on my list (I listed a large number in Q1, but decided to reduce my list for Q2), and for each step that is finished. At the end, the steps for linking up with the Finish-A-Long are included, too: Photo(s), Posted, and Linked Up can all be ticked off when I get that far.

Most of my projects are quilts, but what about those projects that are not? After all, my knitted shawl project doesn't have blocks or binding, and doesn't need quilting either. The Project List has a special section to be able to tick off steps for non-quilty projects, too!

For my "Other" (non-quilt) projects I skip the "Quilt" columns, and use the columns further along to the right instead (see numbers 4 and 5 on my list). The steps for "Other" projects are a bit open to interpretation, because they can be used for any non-quilt project. The phrase "Made" can mean sewn, knitted, stitched, crocheted, etc. depending on the type of project. In the same way, "Finished Off" can be used for blocked, framed, threads tied in, etc.

I played around with the Project List a bit to test it out. Instead of crossing off each step, I coloured each square using a different colour for each quarter. I even added an extra colour for progress from before Q1:

To visualise progress a bit better, colouring gives the option of filling half a square (diagonally looks nice) when good progress has been made, but the step is not quite finished. Where the project has some specific steps, you can even write a (small) note, like I did for a quilt-as-you-go project. The top is not yet together, but the sections are being quilted, so I will only colour "Top" after the quilted panels are joined:

Of course, everyone can use a Project List in their own way. Use a different colour for each step, or for each project. Or use whatever pencil you can find on the day. Or stick on mini stickers instead of colouring or crossing off.
Of course, if your list is a long one, print multiple copies, and number the projects on through the pages. The Project List can be kept for the whole year, just add new
projects on at the end. No need to rewrite your
list each quarter!

Those all-important dates, too

Wouldn't it be great if you never missed a link-up date, especially just when you have achieved that long-awaited finish?! We do try to keep you informed of upcoming link-up dates through Instagram, and via the hosts blogs, but every quarter there are participants that miss a deadline.

Which is why I have added a complete overview of the link-up dates for 2018 to the Finish-A-Long Project List. It even tells you when tutorial weeks are held, so that you can look out for our hosts giving you hints, tips and/or patterns (or here: A Project List)!! Finally, I have included our Instagram username and the most used Finish-A-Long hashtags, too.

Do you think this will be a great organiser for your projects? Would your friends like one, too? Please send them over here to read all about it for themselves, and to find their own download link!

Please let me know how you use the Finish-A-Long Project List. It would be great to get feedback, so that improvements can be made for a next version.

And (dare I say it?) if you don't participate in the Finish-A-Long, you can use the Project List, too, to keep track of your project progress. Of course, in that case you should really consider participating in the Finish-A-Long, it's fun. Check it out at my Finish-A-Long Page.

Sandra, this is great! I love the coloring idea to match which quarter I finished something in and being able to color coordinate with the quarters that I put thing on or take things off my lists!!! I love spreadsheets and may recreate this one electronically for myself because I love track my items on my laptop. Thank you so much!!!

I love this tracker! I especially love the list of hashtags. I always seem to forget what the FAL hashtags are, plus I have some special ones I like to use. Thanks for helping us list challenged people.